New research by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, based on interviews of 400 new iPhone 5s and 5c buyers, indicates that an increasing proportion of Apple's customers are coming from Android compared to last year.

At the launch of iPhone 5 one year ago, about 16 percent of iPhone 5 buyers said they were upgrading from an Android phone, CIRP depicts in its chart (above). This year, at least 20 percent of new iPhone 5s and 5c buyers said they were moving from Android.

The increased percentage that's switching is also telling in that Apple sold significantly more new iPhones at this year's launch. The global market for phones is increasing, and the number of iPhone buyers getting their first phone was also up.

What's decreasing is the number of iPhone buyers moving up from a basic phone or from BlackBerry or some other smartphone platform, due to the fact that there are simply fewer people who still own a "non-smart," BlackBerry or other non-Android phones this year.

As Mike Levin, a Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP, stated in the firm's press release, "perhaps because of the declining base of non- smartphone owners, a smaller percentage of iPhone buyers upgraded from a basic or flip phone, compared to the year-ago launch."

Returning iOS users also up

CIRP's release emphasized a different aspect of the same data: that more iPhone buyers this year were already iPhone customers. That figure increased from 55 percent last year to 65 percent this year.

Significantly more Android owners are moving to an iPhone than iPhone users are moving in the opposite directionLevin stated to AppleInsider via email that "this increase from 55% in 2012 is very meaningful, especially since it's really a fair comparison, of buyers in the two 30-day periods after the launch of the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s/5c."

Logically, the percentage of iOS buyers loyally returning for a new iPhone would necessarily rise in conjunction with the increases in Apple's market share as customer satisfaction levels also remain high.

But the percentage of increase among returning iPhone buyers is a little over 18 percent over last year; the percentage of new iPhone buyers coming from an Android legacy is up even more: 25 percent.

Once bitten twice iPhone

CIRP's latest study reflects the firm's earlier findings from this fall reporting that significantly more Android owners are moving to an iPhone than iPhone users are moving in the opposite direction.

Specific to Apple and Samsung, the world's two largest smartphone vendors by a large margin, Apple's customers were more likely to come from BlackBerry, while a larger percentage of Samsung's buyers were coming from HTC and Nokia.

Overall, however, Apple was seeing a greater percentage of converts from Samsung (20 percent) than Samsung was seeing from previous iPhone buyers (just 7 percent).

Looking only at customers who had switched brands, one third of Apple's new customers had previously owned a Samsung device, but only 11 percent of Samsung's customers came from Apple.

CIRP also noted this fall that Apple's customers represented more young adults between 18-24 and 25-34, while Samsung attracted more middle age buyers aged 35-54 and significantly more seniors aged 55 to 64, as well as more customers with lower incomes.

The trend toward Apple and iOS is focused entirely at the high end of the smartphone market, because Apple does not participate in the "mass market" for low end phones priced significantly below $400.

Last week, a Samsung Mobile executive revealed that only about a third of the company's "smartphones" were premium models comparable in specification and utility to Apple's modern iPhone lineup.

Samsung's financial reports have also detailed that its smartphone shipment growth is coming entirely from mid and low end models, while global demand for its higher end Galaxy S and Note offerings remained flat despite the launch of the company's new flagship Note III premium phablet.

Meh. That sample is far too small and non-representative to adequately detect a reliable and generalizable effect. The article itself has far too little information to glean any context about how the data was collected.

Meh. That sample is far too small and non-representative to adequately detect a reliable and generalizable effect. The article itself has far too little information to glean any context about how the data was collected.

I don't think it's really nessecary to see how the data was collected. It's pretty clear Apple is gaining, even after 6 years on the market, and it doesn't really matter if their customers are coming from Samsung or Blackberry. I can see the incentive from Enterprice users moving away from Blackberry clearly. What I don't understand is why people are switching over from Samsung. I thought that was the 'mother of them all' with an open OS, free apps, ecosystem, large display phones, quality built with expendability and all that.

Articles like these usually attract non-iPhone users so I'd like to hear what it is that makes people switch from Samsung to Apple.

I'm one of the Android users switching to Apple. Bottom line is Android can fool you into buying the hype but after 2 years of HELL I'm glad to be on iOS.

Can you explain what makes Android Hell to use? For the uninformed, like me. Thanks.

Edit. After reading various Android sites I understand why one would describe it as Hell. So no need to respond, unless you want to get something off your chest.Edited by PhilBoogie - 11/11/13 at 5:44am

Can you explain what makes Android Hell to use? For the uninformed, like me. Thanks.

Edit. After reading various Android sites I understand why one would describe it as Hell. So no need to respond, unless you want to get something off your chest.

First off I bough an Android Tablet about 2 years ago. POS. Total POS. After 12 months I got no updates. Many of my apps no longer worked, ton of my apps crashed, and the apps look like crap since they were phone apps blown up. The touch screen was unresponsive, cpu slow as hell, tons of lag. Basically it was such a horrible user experience. Just got the iPad Air. I'm in heaven. This is what a tablet suppose to be.

Got my Android phone about 12 months ago. Same story. I was stuck on an old version of Android. Apps crashed constantly. Some apps don't even open. CPU is slow, TONS OF LAG. Build quality is a joke. Basically the same experience as my Android tablet except shrunken down. Got an 5S a week ago. Amazing. I'll never go back to Android. I don't care how much more 'expensive' Apple is. I put expensive in quotes because after factoring in resale value, user experience, time saved, ect it ain't more expensive.

I switch back and forth between iPhone and Android phones. Sometimes I really love the iPhone's size, and there are a couple of apps that are super helpful, and my kid likes the games on iPhone better. But high end Android phones are so versatile and have so much more utility. Depending on what I am doing dictates which platform is better. Why can't they just get married and have a super-awesome baby? Dang it!

Meh. That sample is far too small and non-representative to adequately detect a reliable and generalizable effect. The article itself has far too little information to glean any context about how the data was collected.

First off I bough an Android Tablet about 2 years ago. POS. Total POS. After 12 months I got no updates. Many of my apps no longer worked, ton of my apps crashed, and the apps look like crap since they were phone apps blown up. The touch screen was unresponsive, cpu slow as hell, tons of lag. Basically it was such a horrible user experience. Just got the iPad Air. I'm in heaven. This is what a tablet suppose to be.

Got my Android phone about 12 months ago. Same story. I was stuck on an old version of Android. Apps crashed constantly. Some apps don't even open. CPU is slow, TONS OF LAG. Build quality is a joke. Basically the same experience as my Android tablet except shrunken down. Got an 5S a week ago. Amazing. I'll never go back to Android. I don't care how much more 'expensive' Apple is. I put expensive in quotes because after factoring in resale value, user experience, time saved, ect it ain't more expensive.

I see posts like this and often wonder what the heck you were using for a phone. My first smartphone was a Droid X by Motorola when it was first released back in 2010. The iPhone wasn't an option as I was on Verizon and who the hell knew if it was ever coming. The Droid X was amazing phone and it never failed me in the two years I had it. When my two years were up I figured I'd give the iPhone a shot as it was my initial choice for a smartphone. It took some getting use to coming from Android, but after playing with the phone I could see why people loved it. I obviously ended up staying with the iPhone but my Android experience was a good one.

First off I bough an Android Tablet about 2 years ago. POS. Total POS. After 12 months I got no updates. Many of my apps no longer worked, ton of my apps crashed, and the apps look like crap since they were phone apps blown up. The touch screen was unresponsive, cpu slow as hell, tons of lag. Basically it was such a horrible user experience. Just got the iPad Air. I'm in heaven. This is what a tablet suppose to be.

Got my Android phone about 12 months ago. Same story. I was stuck on an old version of Android. Apps crashed constantly. Some apps don't even open. CPU is slow, TONS OF LAG. Build quality is a joke. Basically the same experience as my Android tablet except shrunken down. Got an 5S a week ago. Amazing. I'll never go back to Android. I don't care how much more 'expensive' Apple is. I put expensive in quotes because after factoring in resale value, user experience, time saved, ect it ain't more expensive.

That is what I got from Android sites, as well as occasionally holding someone's Android phone or tablet. First thing to notice is the UI, it's personal taste, obviously, and I don't like it. Then I scroll and open an app: lag. Big time lag, even on one year old models. Which must be the software, I presume. The hardware is all up to speed nowadays I'd think.

Quote:

Just got the iPad Air. I'm in heaven. This is what a tablet suppose to be.

Isn't that irrelevant since only 1 or 2 screens (HTC one and LG G2) are seen as "on pair" with the one used on the iPhone 5s and c?

It isn't downgrading at all since every other component (and the phone itself) is so superior. It's a game of trade-offs about better build quality, performance, design and ecosystem Vs a bigger screen.

Could you explain?

Well, right now I have an iPhone 5s and a Sony Xperia Z Ultra, which has a 6.4" screen. Because of the big screen I make fewer errors in typing because I can see the entirety of my message easier, and I can remote desktop into any computer and have a mini, yet fully functional desktop computer in my hand - and Android has bluetooth mouse control, allowing it to provide a more desktop like experience. Apart from physical differences, on Android there is a shared file system that allows any app to be a handler for any file type. I can also default any compatible app to handle whatever function I choose. For example, any email app or map app when clicking on email addresses or addresses on the Internet. Android is also more efficient in handling cross-application tasks across a broader range of functions. For example, if I take a picture and want to edit it in Snapseed, on iOS I have to take the picture, press the home button, load Snapseed, load the photo, and then edit. On Android, I can be pretty much in any camera app and send the photo to Snapseed and start editing directly. There are many MANY benefits like these and I could go on.

I am not bashing iPhone here, I like both systems and go back and forth constantly, usually about 6 times a year as I get frustrated with the others' platform or want to experience the latest and greatest of each. I understand why Apple has setup iOS/iPhone the way it has. I am responding to a question.

"CIRP also noted this fall that Apple's customers represented more young adults between 18-24 and 25-34, while Samsung attracted more middle age buyers aged 35-54 and significantly more seniors aged 55 to 64, as well as more customers with lower incomes."

Each OS has its user base. Samsung is the winner among older users, Apple among younger users.

First off I bough an Android Tablet about 2 years ago. POS. Total POS. After 12 months I got no updates. Many of my apps no longer worked, ton of my apps crashed, and the apps look like crap since they were phone apps blown up. The touch screen was unresponsive, cpu slow as hell, tons of lag. Basically it was such a horrible user experience. Just got the iPad Air. I'm in heaven. This is what a tablet suppose to be.

Got my Android phone about 12 months ago. Same story. I was stuck on an old version of Android. Apps crashed constantly. Some apps don't even open. CPU is slow, TONS OF LAG. Build quality is a joke. Basically the same experience as my Android tablet except shrunken down. Got an 5S a week ago. Amazing. I'll never go back to Android. I don't care how much more 'expensive' Apple is. I put expensive in quotes because after factoring in resale value, user experience, time saved, ect it ain't more expensive.

Got a Mac yet?

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

"CIRP also noted this fall that Apple's customers represented more young adults between 18-24 and 25-34, while Samsung attracted more middle age buyers aged 35-54 and significantly more seniors aged 55 to 64, as well as more customers with lower incomes."

Each OS has its user base. Samsung is the winner among older users, Apple among younger users.

This is true. Everytime I go to Best Buy I see old people in the Samdung section looking at phones. Seems like they like the large screen because of bad eye sight.

Exactly. It's the versatility and durability of Apple's ecosystem that drives customer loyalty and repeat purchases. Last month I upgraded from a three-year-old iPhone 4 to a 5s . I decided that enough additional features had been introduced over that timespan that made it worthwhile in my situation to take advantage of them. There is a great comfort factor in being able to restore all my earlier content and apps to the new device with no fear of it being lost, inaccessible or unusable.

The ecosystem may also be the telling factor in iPhone repeat purchase loyalty among customers under 50. Through much of their earlier productive adulthood, they've increasingly incorporated Apple devices into their business and personal routines. Next time you go to the supermarket, pay attention to the ages of people who refer to their shopping lists on handheld devices and those who still clutch slips of paper. A larger portion of older folks are still dependent on pencil and paper to organize themselves. On any given day, we will see a lot of middle-agers and older in an Apple Retail Store. Nevertheless, those of us seniors who have made a comprehensive transition to Apple's ecosystem are somewhat the exception to the prevailing pattern in our age group.

I admit to being a Fanatical Moderate. I Disdain the Inane. Vyizderzominymororzizazizdenderizorziz?

"CIRP also noted this fall that Apple's customers represented more young adults between 18-24 and 25-34, while Samsung attracted more middle age buyers aged 35-54 and significantly more seniors aged 55 to 64, as well as more customers with lower incomes."

Each OS has its user base. Samsung is the winner among older users, Apple among younger users.

those this year who are 55-64 are the feature phone hold outs. looking for cheap and 'value.'' for lower incomes... size is bling therefore more value (super size it... conspicuous consumption, etc.).

That stats, to me, infer,

- More iPhone users are now 'buying' their first phone. Hand-me-downs, borrowed phones, etc are being upgraded to a 'new' phone. These will be 1st time low income buyers (previous phone is not 'previously bought phone'). This will be a 'value' phone... especially those who have 'one-Plus' use for phones (calling + texting, calling + Facebook, calling + ebay, calling+Large Print book reading).

- If Samsung is selling more phones, and Apple is poaching more Samsung previous owners than visa versa (22% vs 7%), this continues to show that the 2 market leaders will likely settle into a 45%-45% split of sales, and a 70-30 split on profits. Owning 70 Percent of all money to to made in a market is a good thing, right. Think of it like high-stakes poker. you don't have to win every hand, just the ones that earn the big table stakes. dump the losing hands (anything less than $200 profit per phone).

- Finally, in the end game, the 'hw' money will erode to ecosystem 'return on investment'. Android as one system will decay into many, With Samsung, LG, Google, and the carriers all fighting for your 'online dollar.' Apple and Amazon (one of the 1Plus user groups) , and soon Facebook (likely the Other) have serious customer delight barriers in place to keep their revenue growth up.

Samsung's (and LG's) strength is this field will be the 'Internet of Things' (Smart house/appliances.... think of a autoload kuerig that fires off an order to Samsung Prime to reload your half-cat-cap-latte cups automagically, and starts brewing your first cup in the morning when your phone moves from nightstand). That's why iWatch, and iTV are big for Apple... It's a bastion defense to have players in the 'IoT' home/world. (not that I relish the possibilities, but it will be the nature of the next 20 years).

Nope. I'm a huge Apple fan as my posts here will confirm. I happen to think it's hypocritical for AI commenters to disregard bad statistics when Apple is seen in a good light and promote bad stats if they make Apple look good. But your guess was quite predictable.Edited by Carthusia - 11/11/13 at 9:43am

Ummm doesn't one need a bit more information? If one conglomerated OS sells 2-3X of the other OS, how does it make sense to compare percentages for switching?

Say Android had 300 million phone sales last year vs 100 million for iOS (purely theoretical numbers), then 20% of Android to iOS would be 20million users. 10% of iOS to Android would be 30 million users. Or did I miss something and did this company actually normalize for this?

Ummm doesn't one need a bit more information? If one conglomerated OS sells 2-3X of the other OS, how does it make sense to compare percentages for switching?

Say Android had 300 million phone sales last year vs 100 million for iOS (purely theoretical numbers), then 20% of Android to iOS would be 20million users. 10% of iOS to Android would be 30 million users. Or did I miss something and did this company actually normalize for this?

I thought this too, but the sample is only 400 iPhone buyers so I suspect it is not a global survey, just in the USA where iPhone has more users. However, I think it is also important to consider that the iPhone 5s/5c may not be perceived as a big enough change to existing iPhone owners, leaving more iPhone 5 (and below) users to stay with their current iPhones, which would also result in higher Android migrants.

Isn't that irrelevant since only 1 or 2 screens (HTC one and LG G2) are seen as "on pair" with the one used on the iPhone 5s and c?

It isn't downgrading at all since every other component (and the phone itself) is so superior. It's a game of trade-offs about better build quality, performance, design and ecosystem Vs a bigger screen.

Second, components superior not really, many of the iphone hardware components are made by Samsung, LG, Sony,etc. So the component quality is the same.

Third, performance, design and "ecosystem", there's no advantage or anything better on the iphone 5s that you cant get on any premium Android devices today like the LG G2, Samsung Note 3, etc.

The true is that most of iphone users just don't know the true, but they believe they pay for a premium device while they just got an outdated device at the price of a premium device.

As an ongoing user of both systems, I have to disagree that the ecosystem is the same in regards to apps. There are stock trading apps and kid apps, especially educational ones, on iOS that simply are not available or not comparable on Android. There are niche appls, liek for learning disabilities and other medical conditions that are only available on iOS. That's not to say that the broader availability of Play Store media across TV's, computers, and mobile devices isn't superior on Android, but the app ecosystem isn't superior - in my opinion.

Wrong. My interpretation of the data presented was completely sound. I have a social science doctorate. Any freshman in an intro stats class will know YOU have no idea what you're talking about.Edited by Carthusia - 11/11/13 at 9:47am

Meh. That sample is far too small and non-representative to adequately detect a reliable and generalizable effect. The article itself has far too little information to glean any context about how the data was collected.

It's called statistics.

"CIRP also noted this fall that Apple's customers represented more young adults between 18-24 and 25-34, while Samsung attracted more middle age buyers aged 35-54 and significantly more seniors aged 55 to 64, as well as more customers with lower incomes."

"CIRP also noted this fall that Apple's customers represented more young adults between 18-24 and 25-34, while Samsung attracted more middle age buyers aged 35-54 and significantly more seniors aged 55 to 64, as well as more customers with lower incomes."

Sammy needs to update its commercials.

I think it has more to do with the larger screens. Older people prefer / can see them better. No joke. I predict Apple will have one of its biggest growing periods in recent years once they launch a darn big-screened iPhone. Not having one has been a huge contributor to Android's gains.

It's really a ridic sample. Useless data. You can't compare the 2 firms' percentage moves when the actual counts are so different. What does it matter if a small percent of samsung's customers were apple's if that amounts to a very small number versus going the other way.

Meh. That sample is far too small and non-representative to adequately detect a reliable and generalizable effect. The article itself has far too little information to glean any context about how the data was collected.

Doesn't stop the trolls on this site from posting "I haven't seen a single iPhone 5c on my commute to work, therefore nobody is buying them."

I bought a Nexus5 the other day, hoping to see what all the hoopla was about.

Here are my unvarnished opinions in comparison to my iPhone5.
* 5" Screen is very nice and text is crisp - win over my iPhone5, but not as much as I'd thought.
* Setup was ok, hiccuped a few times (had to reenter my wifi pwd twice, once for setup and once for update) - iPhone was flawless.
* Can't add widgets to lock screen in KitKat 4.4 (yes, I've checked the security settings and enabled widgets - still no dice). At least my iPhone has "Today" pulldown with weather & meetings.
* Swiftkey is cool, but takes 1/2 second to launch every time keyboard comes up - I went back to default Google keyboard, which is equivalent to iOS7 (iOS6 keyboard was best).
* Some PDFs just don't render (e.g.: my router manual - RT-AC66u) in Chrome's renderer, which my iPhone handled fine.
* There are 2 "browsers" - the Google app, and Chrome - it's hard to know where I did my searching.
* Much prefer my iPhone's size and smoothness - hard to put the Nexus in a pocket, though once there it's about as comfy as the iPhone.
* Bluetooth controls for Audible worked better on the Nexus (occasionally the iOS app will stop responding to BT controls).
* My favorite games (Ascension, Carcassone) don't exist on Android. In fact, the selection of games is %u2026 insipid.

In short, I'm not finding it easy to jump to Android. If Apple makes a 5" or 6" iPhone, there will be no reason to use a Droid other than it's cheaper or you hate Apple.

I might just return this Nexus, or give it to my Dad and setup BigLauncher on it.